Resting in His Glory

* I wrote this without a title in mind. When I needed to put one it, I really couldn't summarize these thoughts into a title, so the one that is here may not be a very good one. :-(

I woke up this morning thinking about one of “my children.” Not the ones I gave birth to and raised to adulthood. The ones I see for speech therapy. This is how it works when you work with children. They are not just part of your job. They are part of your life. Sometimes I wonder if I should think about them less.  Have I taken focus from other things, even from God, to focus on this ministry? (And, yes, even though it isn’t churchy ministry, I believe it is where God put me, so, it is ministry for me.) Then, I read this scripture. At first, I thought I would have liked to have Joshua’s job. (This will make sense when you read the following scripture.) It would be so wonderful to spend all my time with God, free from the troubles in the world. Joshua had a wonderful job. When we know the rest of the story, we can understand that this was preparation for the times when he would have to face opposition and trouble, but for this particular time, he was allowed to spend all his time in the tent of meeting. Moses, on the other hand, had to live with a ridiculous amount of wishy washiness from the people. One minute they were totally committed to God. The next minute they were dancing around a golden calf. (I’m going through life applications for today in my mind. One minute parents are telling teachers how important their child is in their lives. The next minute, the child is telling the teacher that he had to leave the birthday party because his parents were both drunk.) Moses also spent time with God. Without his time with God, he would not have had the wisdom and ability to teach, lead, and nurture the Israelites. The outside ministry was dependent on the time with God. The struggles outside the tent of meeting helped Moses to recognize his need for God. The two were inseparably related. That’s how it is with us today. We have to face the world with all its sin, pain, and rebellion. Very few, if anyone,  today really has Joshua’s job.

Exodus 33: 7 Now Moses took a tent and set it up outside the camp, far away from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent.11 The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent.

How then can I/we be Moses in our world? Moses asked God that question, paraphrasing: “Lord, I know you love me. I know I have a relationship with you. And I know it was You who gave me this job, but how am I supposed to do it? I don’t have a clue what to do. I really need You to tell me how to do this.” Don’t we feel this way sometimes when we face the “real world?” I know there are times when I am overwhelmed with compassion and sadness for the children, but totally at a loss on how to minister to them because, in my mind, there is no way to make things better for them. (Don’t get me wrong. There are some children who come from wonderful loving homes. They tell pleasant stories about going fishing after church on Sunday. There are good stories as well. But those aren’t the stories that trouble my soul.)

12 Moses said to the Lord, “Look, You have told me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13 Now if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find favor in Your sight. Now consider that this nation is Your people.”

God answered Moses with the answer that we can still believe. He does go with us and will give us rest.

(I’m laughing a little now, because we have this family joke. We say there is a sleeping gene. My daddy had it. I have it. And 2 of my sons have it. We can sleep almost anywhere, and almost instantly. Five minutes after we go to bed, we are in a deep sleep. Three of my children do not have it. One granddaughter has it. Her siblings do not. Now, whether or not there really is a sleeping gene, I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure our ability to sleep is not because we have a different spiritual walk than the others.)

I think the rest God promised Moses had to do with an ability to give our troubles to God and trust Him. There are times when there is nothing we can do to address an issue. Being able to rest in the Lord, trust Him, knowing that He is in control and will work things for the ultimate good of everyone involved is what gives us peace and rest. Letting go. (Granddaughter moment: For some reason that make me think of “Frozen.”)

14 Then He replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 “If Your presence does not go,” Moses responded to Him, “don’t make us go up from here.16 How will it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight unless You go with us? I and Your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.”

17 The Lord answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Moses was asking God to let the rest of the world, their pagan society, see that God’s people were different. God’s people should look different. I’m not sure we do. I’m not sure I do. But, here is the paradox: When we try to look different, we generally do things that do not reflect the heart of God. It is not something we can do on our own. Trying to stand out in the world puts the attention on us, not on God. The only way to be different than the world is to empty ourselves and let God shine through us and in us. We can’t shine on our own. He is the only one who possesses and is the light that the world needs.

18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory.”

Say the words of the preceding verse. Just the thought makes my heart beat a little harder and fills me with anticipation. God, I want to see Your glory. Wow. I so want this. God is willing. But my own sinfulness more often than not blinds me to His glory. If you are honest, you know that is true about you too. That is the human state, even for those of us who have accepted Jesus's gift of salvation and relationship with Him. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead to pay the debt of my sin. I can trust Him now and for eternity. But I still struggle. You still struggle.

So how do I sum up my random thoughts for today? God gives each of us a ministry in a sinful world. As sinful people, we are unable to do anything on our own. Only from being in God’s presence, trusting Him, emptying ourselves, and longing to see His glory can we be who He wants us to be, serve Him how He wants us to serve, and minister to whom and in what ways He has planned for us.